I’ve been publicly prattling a lot about Prior Learning Assessment lately. For example:

Here

Here, and

Here.

But I fear that the important things about PLA are not getting enough attention. So let me say it loudly and in a bright font here:

PLA is about earning credit – and it is about so! much! more! than earning credit.

Many thanks to cogdogblog on Flickr for allowing this image to be used.

I could go on and on about the so! much! more!, but instead, let some of our students tell you. Below is a list of students who share their experiences with the PLA program at Marylhurst University. Some are videos, some are written testimonials, and all tell great stories about the ways in which PLA challenged them, benefited them, and changed their perspectives on their experiences and themselves!

That’s right: the process of doing PLA — the process of reflecting critically on their experiences, making new meaning from those experiences, articulating those experiences in new ways – changed them. In some cases, the process resulted in pretty significant transformative learning.

Thanks to all of our PLA students who are willing to reflect on their experiences, one more time.

• Chip Brinks – Real Estate: Becoming More Cognizant Of Learning
• Greg Carradine – Human Communication: He Learned A Lot In High School (Working There!)
• Christy Dirren – Organizational Communications: She Didn’t Need To Start From Scratch
• Barbara Eckroad – Interdisciplinary Studies: Add It Up: 45 Credits Of Prior Learning
• Helen Fern – Human Studies: Informed By Life Experience
• Julie Fleming – Interdisciplinary Studies: Claiming Her Knowledge
• Debra Giannini – Interdisciplinary Studies: She’s Ready For What’s Next
• Jennifer Goff-Hawkins – Business & Leadership: The Power of Peer Review
• Catherine Hooper – Organizational Communications: Learning to Dream Again
• Victoria Hurlock – Communications: She Established A Rhythm
• Jodie Johnson – Interdisciplinary Studies: Balancing New Learning With Prior Learning
• Stephanie Lillegard – Interdisciplinary Studies: Learning A New Way To Learn 
• Velda Metelmann – Interdisciplinary Studies: 67 Years of Learning
• Angela Pernisco – Psychology: An Innovator For The Next Generation
• Loretta Rowe (Swan) – Interdisciplinary Studies: NOW She Knows!
• Ty Wells – Business & Leadership: A Gift That Keeps On Giving
• Carleen Walsh – Interdisciplinary Studies: One Year Closer to Graduating